Intubating Bronchoscope
Location – Operating Room
In medicine, intubation refers to the placement of a tube into an external or internal orifice of the body. Tracheal intubation is used by practitioners to perform diagnostic manipulations of the airways such as bronchoscopy.
When conventional intubation techniques using general anesthesia for patients with difficult air-ways are contraindicated, the practice of intubation with a bronchoscope may be an option for ventilating the patient.
In patients who are at high risk of difficulty, it may be sensible to avoid administering a general anesthetic and precipitating a crisis. The placement of an endo-trachial tube under general anesthetic may be contraindicated in patients with an abnormal airway, such as an inability to open the mouth or move the upper spine, patients with tumors or swelling within the throat, the overweight, or those with relatively short jawbone or large neck. The anesthesiologist may choose to intubate these patients while awake.
Therefore, the technique of fiber-optic intubation is used to overcome these problems. First, the patient is sedated and a local anesthesia is applied to the airway and throat to reduce gagging and improve tolerance. Then a fibre optic bronchoscope is used to light the way through the larynx and beyond. The endo-tracheal tube is placed around the endoscope prior to commencing the procedure, and once the trachea is visualized, the tube can be made to follow into the correct position. The tube following the endoscope into position is analogous to a train following railway tracks, and is therefore referred to as ‘railroading’.
Cost $35,000
Note: The photograph is used for illustrative purposes only. The equipment purchased may be of a different make and model.
